Ground Breaking & Historical Summit Set to Begin

20th July 2013: Fiji will be hosting the Inaugural Meeting of the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) at the Sheraton Fiji Resort, Denarau Island, Nadi, from Monday 5th August to Wednesday 7th August 2013.

The PIDF was approved by Leaders of a number of Islands in the Pacific meeting under the banner of “Engaging with the Pacific” at the Westin Sheraton, Denarau, Fiji from 5th – 7th August, 2012.

Pacific Leaders at the 2012 Engagement with the Pacific Meeting

The PIDF brings together government, business and civil society leaders from the Pacific to secure the future of the Pacific through the Green Economy.

It is the Pacific’s most inclusive and highest participatory platform for action on the Green Economy.

The mission of the PIDF is to empower the People of the Pacific to create positive change in their communities and nations by spreading proven best practices, strategy, tools, and visionary ideas to achieve sustainability and reduce poverty through the green economy.

The theme of the inaugural meeting is, “Leadership, Innovation and Partnership for Green/Blue Pacific Economies”.

The meeting will comprise interactive discussions preceded by keynote presentations on some of these issues:

How can the Pacific's natural resources create more wealth for the People of the Pacific in a more resource-efficient and beneficial manner?

What are the pathways to industrial growth which can create greater employment, produce higher outputs with lower inputs, and enhance competitiveness for Pacific economies?

What challenges will Pacific countries face in the transition to a green economy and how could such challenges be overcome?

What characteristics of Executive Leadership and Human Capital are required for the Green Economy to be successful?

How can intra-Pacific cooperation on green economy be strengthened and supported?

There will also be a GREEN ECONOMY EXPO by the public sector, private sector and civil society from Fiji and beyond displaying green products, processes and technologies.Some of the Exhibitors come as far away as Korea to participate. 1000 school children from the West are expected to visit the EXPO with the kind assistance by the Ministry of Education. A number of schools are also taking part in the EXPO itself. The EXPO is open to the public and admission is

There is great interest from outside the region on the meeting and some nations are sending in special representatives from their capital specially to attend PIDF. Nations that have confirmed their participation as Observers include following:

Australia

Belgium

Chile

Cuba

Georgia

Israel

Kuwait

Mexico

Morocco

New Zealand

Russia

Singapore

Sri Lanka

UK

United Arab Emirates

Venezuela

Some of the nation’s participating as Observers are sending in their development cooperation agencies to explore areas of cooperation with the Pacific. This includes Kuwait which is sending senior officials from the Kuwait Development Fund. They join their counterparts from the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting is being made possible with the generous support of the Governments of Kuwait which has given USD$389,000.00, Peoples Republic of China FJD$200,000.00 and the United Arab Emirates USD$100,000.00 and a number of local business houses.

Attached are the program for the Summit and the EXPO. More information on the meeting can be found at the PIDF web site www.pacificidf.org.

If you would like to participate in any of these activities please contact the following:

For the Inaugural MeetingPlease contact the PIDF Secretariat on 330 9645, 323 9634, or email secretariat@pidf.gov.fj